


Hit the Road Jack

by doppeldonger



Series: Serenity [4]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games), Borderlands: The Pre Sequel, Tales from the Borderlands - Fandom, borderlands 2 - Fandom
Genre: Abuse, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Little bit of blood, Multi, Other, Revenge fic, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-06
Packaged: 2018-12-12 01:31:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11726709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doppeldonger/pseuds/doppeldonger
Summary: “You’re not a hero, Jack, you never were.” Timothy slaps him. “Ask all the innocent people you murdered on Pandora… on Elpis- hell, even on Helios. Ask Lilith, or Rhys… Ask Angel.”“You shut tHE HELL UP ABOUT MY DAUGHT-“Timothy’s fist collides with Jack’s jaw and has his head flying back faster than a bullet. A broken jaw seems to have shut him up, although he still manages to whine in pain. Timothy cradles his fist to his chest as he steps back, “She never was your daughter.” he says, sounding too calm to be normal, “She was nothing more than a tool for you.Noneof us were more than a tool for you.”-This is the prequel to Bitch Better Have My Money.





	Hit the Road Jack

**Author's Note:**

> lilbittymonster, punkbarbie, valoscope and tonduofthegalaxy on tumblr listened to me ramble about this fic and I love them very much.

Pandora’s 90-hour daily cycle is long, but to the people gathered up around the wide desk inside Sanctuary’s headquarters, their current meeting feels even longer. The screens gracing the main room shine brightly under the mid-morning sun that’s spilling from the balcony, painting the humans and robots in hues of various colors.

“And this concludes the details of our deal, I believe.” Rhys finishes with a tired sigh, turning off his palm’s ECHOscreen and looking Lilith in the eye. Fiona on his left relaxes into her seat, slightly tipping her body towards the Atlas CEO in a totally-not-obviously-protective manner; Athena on his right crosses her arms, her face lit by her usual indifferent anger.

Lilith looks at him from across the desk and nods, her eyes calculating and her red lips in a constant pout, “Agreed.” Mordecai on her left and Brick on her right share a thankful look; even Talon perched atop the Hunter’s shoulder seems to be in a good mood as he preens Mordecai’s locks.

“Welp,” Brick gets up and stretches, muscles rippling throughout his body, “I’ll go check the puppies if we’re done here.”

Rhys clears his throat, “There’s another thing I want to talk to you about.” His eyes never once leave the Siren’s pale face. She raises a curved eyebrow. Athena mirrors Lilith’s action as Fiona not-at-all-subtly scoots her chair closer to Rhys, her hand over her pistol. Rhys buries a silver hand into one of his jacket’s inner pockets, when it emerges it holds a faded blue, dime-sized piece of metal dangling at the end of a bunch of cables. He puts the remains of his previous ECHOeye on the desk gently, his throat working in a nervous swallow.

Lilith’s glances at the item briefly before her golden eyes focus on Rhys again, “You wanted to talk to me about a piece of trash?”

“My old ECHOeye.” the Atlas CEO amends. Lilith frowns, annoyed and angry, “Why.” It’s not a question, it’s clear that she’s eager to throw them out of her city as soon as possible. Rhys smiles and unlike his earlier Corporate Shark grin, this one looks genuinely nervous.

“Remember how you told me I housed Handsome Jack in my head?” There it is again- the taboo. It feels like the temperature has dropped despite the warmth the sun brings into the room. Lilith sits taut like a bow, “Yeah? So what?” she snaps through gritted teeth.

“Well… He wasn’t simply in my head.” Rhys replies, his mismatched eyes flicking to the ECHOeye lying dead on the desk and back to the Siren’s face.

Surprisingly enough, it’s not Lilith who gets past the initial shock. “WHAT?!” Athena roars as she jumps to her feet, Mordecai follows her soon after, “What in the world were you thinking, _pendejo_ , are you out of your fucking mind?!”

Rhys gives himself a mental pat on the back for flinching only a little and takes special care to keep his eyes on Lilith, who looks absolutely stunned (…and scared?) with her parted lips and wide eyes. Brick hits the desk with a giant fist, forming a deep dent right then and there, “What the hell?!” The two men and Athena reach for the impassive ECHOeye almost simultaneously, but Lilith stops them.

“Don’t.” Her voice is so tiny, so fragile, yet the command is strict enough to stop the three in their tracks. “Lil’, come on! You can’t-“

“Shut the hell up and sit down. All of you.” Her eyes focus solely on Rhys, but her order is as effective as if she were looking the others in the eye. Brick sits down first, his chair groaning under his weight; Mordecai and Athena follow soon after.

The eerie silence stretches into a full minute before Lilith sighs and closes her eyes, rubbing the crease between her eyes tiredly. Rhys sits with his hands on the table and his fingers intertwined, he has first-hand experience about how hard and fast past trauma could hit one; so he sits patiently and waits, sometimes silence is a valid option after all.

“Why?” the Siren finally raises her head from where she buried it between her delicate hands to regard the CEO with a weary glare. “Why keep him? And why bring him here?” She takes a deep, shaky breath and in all honesty, Rhys wants to do just the same; he can see the tears in Lilith’s eyes as well as feel the ones in his own. “I thought you suffered at his hands, I thought you wanted to let go.” Lilith continues, barking the words as if she were an aggravated dog, “You want him back, after all he’s done? What good will that do?”

Fiona squeezes Rhys’s shoulder and gives him a tentative yet encouraging nod as the others announce their agreement with the Siren. Rhys nods back at his partner and straightens up, his hands never once leaving their place where Lilith can see them.

“You see, Ms Lilith… I got another offer for you and you only.” The grin stretching his plump lips is a strained one that has even Brick tremble a little because of how evil and empty it looks. “I feel no different about him than you do, albeit our positions and the situations we’ve been in were different. Handsome Jack is- _was_ an abusive piece of shit, a good for nothing man who didn’t deserve to be called a human being.” His syllables crack through the room like a whip as the words spill from his mouth that’s shaped into a wild sneer. Lilith lets out a barely-there, gentle gasp as she tries to gulp back her tears. “My plan is to bring him back-“ There are louder gasps from the three people in the room at that, Fiona stands her ground, she knows his proposal. Rhys continues as if he hasn’t noticed the disbelieving stares, “We’ll keep him chained and locked, we’ll treat him the way he treated us- and even worse than that.” The dark look on his face, the deeper tone of his voice and the very words he says force the others to regard him from a much different point of view.

 _Not the dumb nerd you think he is_ , Fiona thinks distantly as her hand moves to pat Rhys’s back gently.

“And then we’ll break him.” Rhys sighs with a huge grin as if he’s talking about a good fuck or a tasty dinner. “He’ll see how his actions affected the people around him, he’ll hate us- despise us, he’ll repent, he’ll cry, he’ll beg…” Tears slowly start to run down his stiff face, “But we won’t listen, because no amount of physical and psychological torture would be enough to cleanse him of his sins.” He sniffles, wiping his human hand over his face to get rid of the wetness. The tears keep coming. Fiona offers him her handkerchief, which he uses to blow his nose gently before continuing. “I would love it if you joined me during this whole process; as much as I don’t like you, I’m aware you deserve this as much as I do.” He takes a deep breath as the others sit stunned at his casually candid words. “In any case, I need you and your friend’s Siren powers.”

Through her own tears, Lilith lets out a curious noise. Rhys leans forward with a mean grin.

“Because when I’m done with him, he won’t be in any condition to live.” Athena eyes him, fear apparent despite her usual resting bitch face. He knows, and that’s okay- he never wanted people to take him for some dumb corporate lackey anyway. “And an insta-death would be a great party-pooper, don’t you think?” Lilith’s lips part in realization before she wipes her face with her tattooed hand. “I need someone to bring him back and into top condition whenever I hurt him just a little more than that is needed.” His tone indicates such a thing will happen more often than expected.

There’s silence as five pairs of eyes watch him. Fiona’s grateful Gortys and Claptrap are chatting so heatedly on the balcony to notice the things the humans are discussing inside.

“That’s twisted.” Mordecai pipes up.

“And sick.” Brick supplies.

“And absolutely dumb! Are you an idiot?!” Athena finishes.

But Rhys has eyes only for Lilith. He reaches out a hand to tap against the ECHOeye lying between them, “What do you say, Ms Lilith?”

It’s the Siren’s turn to straighten up with a long sigh. She leans back and crosses her arms, feigning calmness and control. “I’m in.” she says, her voice as dark as Rhys’s as she matches his grin.

* * *

“How exactly do you plan on getting him back?” Lilith asks Rhys as they slowly make their way to Moxxi’s. Claptrap and Gortys are already wheeling a few feet in front of them, lost in a heated argument about pineapple pizza; the remaining four Vault Hunters stalk the Siren and the CEO as if they’re worried the two will try to pull something dangerous off.

“Have you ever been to Opportunity?” Rhys inquires as he casually jams his hands into his pockets.

“Not personally, but I’ve lead some missions for the other Vault Hunters there.” Lilith responds, pulling a bunch of red locks away from her soft face.

“Well, first of all, the city’s Atlas property now and we’re calling it Serenity.” At Rhys’s proud tone of voice the Siren hums, seemingly pleased with the outcome. “Anyways, we’ve found some… uh… some Jack clones down in some lab.”

“Oh my god.” Lilith sounds she’s about to throw up, and honestly? Rhys can relate to that. “Yeah, I know.” he shrugs. “Those clones have ECHOports… I’m guessing for jamming ID drives into…” He gives her a nervous smile, the memories still too vivid in his mind. Lilith nods encouragingly, “You’re thinking we can try those clones out.”

“Exactly. So uh…” Rhys turns to look at Brick and Mordecai briefly before continuing, “Do you mind coming to Serenity? It’d be a controlled environment that could give us the sources and opportunity to work on him.” Lilith turns to regard their entourage as well before humming affirmative, “But I’ll bring a good amount of people with me.”

Rhys smiles at that, “As long as you don’t try to blow up my city, you can bring as many as you want.”

* * *

“This… is suuuuper creepy…” Maya says as she looks up at the giant container filled with an unknown liquid… and a Handsome Jack clone.

“I’ve seen creepier, like the dude himself.” August comes to stand next to the Siren, not at all fazed by the raw power rolling off of her. She turns to regard him with cool gray eyes, “Didn’t you meet the Jack AI?”

“Uh, yeah.” the blond man puts his hands on his hips. “So?”

“I’ve met the man himself and killed him with a bullet through the head, smartass.” Despite her furrowed brows and pout, Maya sounds greatly amused. August seems to deflate as he rubs his neck, “Well, shit.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of time to hurt him once we bring him back.” Rhys glides in with Lilith strutting in tow. “Good.” August shoots back as he cracks his knuckles.

Maya laughs, her voice like bells chiming in some cool autumn dusk, “I doubt you’d last a minute.”

“Hey!”

“Aren’t you the one who goes ‘Children, behave!’ at shit like this?” Axton’s gritty voice calls out before his laughter booms through the large lab. Maya puts her hands on her hips with a grin, “He even has the gall to imitate me.” Axton throws a friendly arm over the Siren’s shoulders as if they’ve known each other since they were toddlers, “Not my fault you decided to become team mom, darl’.” He reaches out to August with his free hand, dragging Maya along, “Name’s Axton, nice to meet ya.”

August takes his hand in a somewhat star struck manner and returns the soldier’s firm handshake, “August.”

“Pretty name for a pretty guy like you.” Axton winks as the brawler stares at him in shock.

“Oh my god, Axton! Stop trying to flirt with every single person you meet!” Maya complains, punching Axton’s chest lightly as August’s face turns a deep shade of crimson. Axton’s arm around her shoulders tighten, “But Maya- you don’t understand! I got a mighty need to suck this dude off, otherwise he’ll go to waste.” The Siren actually attempts to shield her ears with her hands at that comment, letting out a disgusted groan all the while.

“Actually…” August clears his throat, “Actually, I got a girlfriend.”

Axton turns his naughty glare towards the other man, “I don’t mind, darlin’, I swing both ways.”

Fiona cups her hands around her mouth and shouts at the soldier from where she stands next to Rhys, “Don’t do it! August himself is a waste!” Next to her the big bad CEO persona of Rhys cracks as he hides his giggles behind his cybernetic hand. Lilith wonders if she was ever this entertained before her eyes meet Rhys’s- he reminds her of another pair of amused pair of heterochromic eyes. She glares at the Jack clone in the container.

“I can’t believe the asshole didn’t add the scar in…” she turns to regard Rhys with an annoyed look, “You said he had these clones made after the whole Elpis incident, right?”

The CEO stands with his hands on his hips next to the Siren and glares at the clone thoughtfully, “Well…” He folds his hands behind his back and grins at Lilith, “He was kinda obsessed with his face for obvious reasons.” He winks mischievously.

Lilith knows she shouldn’t laugh, she really does; she has the image of a cold-hearted bitch to uphold after all. Nonetheless, she can’t help the snigger escaping her mouth. Rhys grins wider, enjoying a rare moment where it feels like they’re getting along.

The moment of peace disperses like smoke when Rhys continues in a low tone, “We found some failed projects, too.” He can’t help the uncomfortable shiver running through his lanky body, “Eugh. Sometimes I wish I could wipe my memories like I wipe data from my internal storage, to be honest.” Lilith wrinkles her nose in disgust, “Jack _is_ a failed project, I don’t even wanna imagine what you must have seen.” Rhys shivers again, eyeing the clone wordlessly. “You know…” Lilith continues as she absentmindedly looks at the body as well, “He had a doppelgänger back when shit hadn’t hit the fan, before he usurped Hyperion.”

The CEO turns to regard the Siren with a curious look, “Why would he have a body double then? He wasn’t that important, makes no sense.”

Lilith snorts, “Yeah, the guy’s ego was that huge.” Rhys chuckles in response as he rubs the bridge of his nose, “Why am I not surprised?” Lilith crosses her arms, “Anyway, this guy was in no way fit for being Jack’s double,” She turns to look at the other, “He was- and is even worse than you.”

Rhys takes full offense at that, “What is that supposed to mean?” he shoots back fiercely as he holds a hand against his heart.

“A giant nerd, too afraid of everything, definitely not someone who’d act like the man who mowed through innocent crowds with a clear conscience.”

“I’m not… a giant nerd…” He can practically **hear** Fiona roll her eyes in the distance. “Well, okay- but- why are you even telling me this?”

“This guy is the only doppelgänger who went under full surgery to look like Jack.”

Rhys sputters at the revelation, “F-full surgery? What the hell?! Why would someone do that instead of using cloaking devices like any other body double would do?” It’s Lilith’s turn to roll her eyes, “Apparently he needed money, and Jack needed someone to use whenever he wanted to hurt or abuse someone under the guise of admiring his own ugly face.” She says it so casually, as if she’s talking about guns or what she’ll eat for dinner, that Rhys ends up gaping at her stupidly. She shrugs. “Anyway, I think he’d want in with this whole thing.”

The CEO looks downright unamused, “Why would I let a Jack double in my city, my labs, and my personal torture sessions?” He’s surprised Lilith even brought such an idea up in the first place.

The Siren simply laughs, her deep chuckle very much like Maya’s- he feels as if he’s listening to gentle bells chiming in a hot summer morning. He wonders if it’s a Siren thing. “I think you’d like him,” Lilith continues, “He’s…” she seems like she’s trying to blurt out something bitter for a moment, “He’s nice. And from what I’ve heard, he’s suffered as much as we did.”

“Oh really?” Rhys bodily turns to the woman, hands on his hips and a feral snarl twisting his soft features, “Did _he_ have Jack in his head like _I_ did? Did _he_ get forced to open a Vault like _you_ did? Was _he_ mind- and body-controlled like _we_ did?”

“ _He_ was his only true body double, Rhys.” Lilith looks the other in the eye as her brows furrow, “Imagine having to act, talk, walk, think _and_ look like a psychopath just ‘cause you needed money.” Rhys raises an eyebrow in return, “When did you become so understanding?”

Lilith gives him a sad smile as if he’s not getting it, “Never too late to learn, right?”

* * *

Sensation sucks him back from the nothingness that engulfed him for who knows how long and for an unbearable moment everything is just _too much_ , the stimulation making his whole existence throb with anxiety.

Then, as suddenly as it came, the weird, panicky feeling is gone. He opens his eyes to an overly-bright ceiling that looks all too familiar to him. His lips slowly part as he opens his mouth to say, “Huh. I remember this place from somewhere.” but all that comes out of him is a gurgle.

Who is he anyway? His voice is familiar, just like the pale ceiling of this foreign place. He coughs, making the staccato sound echo through the place he’s residing in. Speaking of which…

He tries to sit up and manages to do so after a couple of failed attempts on his limbs’ part, it feels as if he hasn’t used them in a long while- as if he hasn’t had a body at all to begin with. He lowers his head to look down and a pair of large, olive-skinned hands greets him. He opens his mouth, more confidently this time to say, “This is definitely familiar.” but all that comes out is a pathetic wheeze. That doesn’t stop him from attempting to swear somewhat colorfully. He eventually gives up on trying to talk, trying to remember who is or why he’s feeling like this, and looks around.

It seems he’s in a small room with thick glass windows, currently reclining on an uncomfortable bed. There’s a toilet to his right and a lone chair to his left. He distantly wonders why the latter is screwed snugly to the floor before the lighting catches his attention, is it too bright in here or is it because he just woke up from… sleep? Coma? He’s not sure. What was he doing before he blacked out? He looks down at his hands again.

Oh.

 _Ooohhhhh_.

“Ooohhhhohohoho.” The first proper sound leaving his downturned lips is a deep, uncanny laugh before his mouth reforms itself into an ugly snarl as his hands clench and unclench involuntarily, “Oooohhh Rhysie… Trying to get rid of me like that, huh? I’m so gonna strangle you-“ He looks around as he grinds his teeth, “Whenever I find you.”

Where is he anyway? The color scheme is off, but the architecture is familiar.

Hold the fucking phone.

“I know this lab…” he growls, looking past the glass walls to see he’s in a giant room that seems to stretch in all directions. He squints, still a little unsure, “Opportunity?” He slowly rises on the bed, “Why am _I_ in a lab?”

There’s a hiss from somewhere behind him which prompts him to turn around with a yelp he quickly swallows down. Ah, so there’s a sealed door there to let in-

“Heya, handsome.”

 _Her_.

Her disgustingly pretty face, the way her posture radiates strained hate, the way her lips pull back in an ugly sneer… and just the way she looks at him, so condescending, so… derogative…

He’s gonna _murder_ this _bitch_.

He vaults off the bed in an almost-blur despite his slow limbs, hands outstretched to wrap themselves around the smirking Siren’s delicate neck as he screams bloody murder before a jolt of pain blooms across his own neck and his aggressive shouts turn into agonized wails. He crumples down onto the floor in a heap of twitching mess as his shaky hands find their way to his neck.

Scratch that, he’s gonna _torture_ _her_ before offing her.

“Like your new toy?” Lilith purrs as Jack gurgles on the floor pathetically, tears and snot running down his pain-contorted face. She slowly paces close and falls to a graceful crouch in front of the convulsing man with a crooked grin. “Got our inspiration from you.”

_Our?_

Suddenly the pain vanishes and Jack can breathe properly again, with a reddened face and veins in his neck and forehead throbbing visibly, he opts for a deep growl once he gulps down enough air. His trembling fingers brush against the collar coiling around his neck like a metallic bowtie too tight to be comfortable. Lilith hums appreciatively, “Uh-huh. I must admit that’s some good handiwork there, perfectly capable of making a grown man cry like a baby.” She swats Jack’s hands away, which makes him only angrier and he lashes out again.

That’s what Lilith’s going for, to be quite honest. Her grin grows wider as Jack’s hit with another jolt of electricity that has him let out breathless sobs as he rides out the pain.

“We’re good?” the Siren asks casually once the man ceases to convulse violently. “Anyway, you’ve always been a whiny piece of shit, so I’m not really surprised.”

“You shut your fucking mouth.” Jack growls through saliva running down his lips. An involuntary flinch runs through his body and he ends up curling into fetal position on his side on the cold floor.

There’s the sound of heels clacking confidently and then some shuffling before a pair of legs enter Jack’s line of sight, but his vision is too blurry from pain to provide him with enough input. “Awww, already started… without me?” At the amused baritone voice he knows too well, Jack manages to raise his head up only an inch to look past Lilith; Rhys’s heterochromic eyes find his as the younger man smiles down at him amiably before he turns to the Siren with a mock-pout. He comes to stand next to Lilith and bends down slightly to regard Jack with a calculating gaze.

_Oh, you motherfucker._

“Ooohhh!” Rhys claps his hands together, the sound making Jack flinch, “Look at our little man go! He already learned how to swear!”

Did he say that out loud, then? Oh well. “Fuck you, Rhysie.”

“And still he talks.” Lilith rolls her eyes and turns to look up at the CEO. Rhys gives her a genuine grin, “You know how he doesn’t have an off button when it comes to running his mouth.” Feeling more confident with his body than he did before, Jack slowly rises on his hands; albeit shaking greatly, he manages to sit up as Lilith and Rhys watch his movements all the while. “ _You_ won’t have a mouth to talk with when I’m done with you, cupcake.” Rhys’s amused little smile tells him his threats don’t work on the taller man like they used to. “I’d like to see you try,” the Atlas CEO says, tapping his chin with his robotic hand.

Lilith slowly extends a friendly hand towards Jack, waving it in his face as she explains, “I know you’re lacking greatly in the brains department, Jack, but I’m guessing you’ve seen by now that if you try to hurt us you’ll just end up hurting yourself.”

“It’s the collar.” Rhys supplies in a stage whisper, “It’ll activate whenever you get too aggressive.”

There’s a moment of silence where Jack’s glare jumps between the two before Lilith rises on her feet and dusts off her pants, “Let’s just give you some time alone to think, shall we?” She turns to Rhys, who nods in return.

“Buh-bye, _Jackie_!” he waves before the glass doors fall shut behind them silently and Jack’s body is just too slow to get up and hurl itself towards the offensive duo in time. He pounds on the door with his fists, “You’re savages! Filthy bandits! BACKSTABBERS, BOTH OF YOU!” With his wide eyes, furrowed brows and snarl he is a far cry from the cool, handsome devil image he has woven around himself for years. Rhys tsks as Lilith crosses her arms across her chest, “Look at him, Lilith. We bring him back, give him a new body, even give him a place to stay and he’s just so ungrateful.” The Siren lets out an exaggerated sigh at that, “Some things you just can’t unlearn…”

The look Rhys gives Jack before the duo turn around to leave without another word is downright terrifying; Jack realizes he’s never seen the younger man like that, so cold, calculating and ruthless. The moment they leave the lab, accompanied by another hiss of some doors Jack can’t see; the lights go off, leaving the lonely man in complete and utter darkness.

He tries to suppress the fearful shiver threatening to shake his whole body and fails miserably.

* * *

The moment they leave Jack behind locked doors, Lilith and Rhys let out a relieved breath that makes their proud and merciless postures deflate like some tired balloon.

“Oh my god…” Rhys sighs as he rubs his face with his hands, “I never thought it’d be so…”

“Surreal?” Lilith supplies as she slides down the door to sit on the floor, her legs sprawled out without a care in the world. “I really, _really_ wanted to punch his stupid face, you know.”

“But you didn’t.” Rhys shoots back as he sits next to her, not caring how he’s ruining his expensive suit. “You went against the call of the cliché and I’m proud of you.” They share an amused look.

“I’ll most probably punch him the next time he tries to pull something off.” Lilith confesses after a pause.

“I know.” Rhys replies, not at all bothered.

* * *

When the lights come on again, they bring along the all-too-familiar sound of heels clacking on the tiled floor; Jack looks up from where he’s trying to kick the chair down to no avail and greets Rhys with a wild sneer. The CEO stands casually on the other side of the glass walls with hands behind his back and gives the older man a sympathetic smile, “Bored?”

Jack pounds his fists on the glass, imagining they’re hitting the taller man in his dumb, pretty face, “Oh I’ll show you ‘bored’ when you get in here.” Rhys raises a thick eyebrow at that, “Oh yeah?” Jack simply growls in response and Rhys can practically read his mind- perks of having the man in his head for so long, he guesses. With the confidence of only someone in his position, the CEO raises his left hand and puts it against the screen next to the door; the device lets out a friendly beep and the door glides open with a hiss.

That gives Jack the opportunity he’d been waiting for and he immediately makes a mad dash for the door- _Why is he standing there and just smiling?_ –only to ram into a near-invisible electromagnetic field. He falls back with a blood curdling scream, his tight collar activating the moment he hits the wall of electricity.

Rhys gracefully steps in, examining Jack’s glass prison with bored eyes as the door hisses shut behind him. The older man finally stops squirming in agony on the floor once the effects of the electrical field and the collar wear off. The younger man strides around on his long, _long_ legs Jack’s teary eyes can’t stop watching and perches atop his uncomfortable bed in a manner that suggests he’s not too happy to have his expensive currant colored pants even touch the crumpled sheets. He watches Jack watch him and crosses one thin leg over the other with a roll of his eyes. He leans his arms on his knee and places his round chin on a well-manicured hand.

Jack lets out a pained sob he tries so hard to keep in.

“Are you done with your whining?” Rhys asks sweetly, “You know, I really, _really_ don’t want to agree with Lilith, and I came here in hopes to see you behave well, but you’re really trying to push my limits here… _John_.”

Jack just _freezes_ , and he looks so still, so unmoving that for a brief moment Rhys wonders if the older man’s just had a stroke. Then Jack’s dual colored eyes find his and Rhys smiles down at the man, just as sweet as his voice. “You know… I got to read your mind and memories just like you had full access to mine, _John_.” He switches legs and leans back on his hands, his vest slightly stretches across his chest and Jack’s torn between ripping his clothes or head off.

He opts for the latter, just because he’s terrified of how much this beanstalk knows about him.

Naturally, his attack is cut agonizingly short when the collar activates, so Jack ends up screaming in pain yet again with his hands just **inches** away from Rhys’s long neck. “Oh well…” he hears the younger man say as the door to his prison hisses open. When the pain recedes in waves enough for him to see properly again, he’s greeted with two pairs of legs that seem somewhat familiar.

“Already?” a gritty voice calls out and belatedly Jack realizes that’s one of the Vault Hunters who killed him (the first time, his brain amends, making him flinch involuntarily). Rhys lets out a noncommittal sound. “Can’t really blame ya, darl’.” Axton replies and they share a laugh. Jack’s hands flex and unflex at how they’re making fun of **him** , desperate to strangle the both of them.

A smoother voice calls out this time, sounding a little impatient, “Alright, now what? You want him in the chair?” Jack can hear the smile in Rhys’s voice as he replies, “Yes, August. Why are you in such a hurry anyway? I’ll let you guys make out or whatever when you help me with this.”

The one named August sputters at the comment, “It’s just- Sasha’s waiting, alright?”

“ _Both_ of you. I know.” Rhys sounds downright flirtatious.

 _August_ and _Sasha_ … Jack suddenly remembers the mentioned people. “You shot at my screens,” he wants to grit out, but his body seems unwilling to cooperate and he ends up letting out a pathetic, unintelligible whine. The blond man’s sharp features fill the ex-tyrant field of vision before he and Axton hoist Jack up and into the offensive chair standing innocently at the corner of the room. The older man tries to swat at the strong hands expertly binding his limbs to the sturdy chair, but his already weakened body ( _It wasn’t strong to begin with, must be one of the damn clones_ ) and the fear of the collar around his neck ( _Handsome Jack doesn’t fear anything!_ ) prevents him from violently lashing out.

Another hiss of the door, and the two men are gone as fast as they came, leaving Jack alone with Rhys once again. The CEO tilts his head to the side as he gently rubs his hands, “Calmed down already? I know you had it in you, _John_.”

“Shuh… shut tha’ fughk up.”

Rhys smiles at how hard Jack’s trying to use his lax mouth just to throw swears in his direction and struts closer like a graceful stork about to gobble down its prey. He fluidly moves down to straddle Jack’s lap and his smile gains a predatory edge; Jack’s wide eyes follow his every move as Rhys wraps his arms around the older man’s neck. “Look at you,” he murmurs into Jack’s ear, “We do _so_ much for you here, yet you’re _so_ ungrateful.”

“Cut tha’ crap, kuh-kitten.” Jack tries to smirk menacingly before he dives in and bites down on Rhys’s neck; as the CEO lets out an involuntary gasp and his hips stutter forward, Jack realizes the collar remains passive. Feeling braver and deciding to use Rhys’s surprise to his advantage, he moves his head back as far as possible and slams down hard onto the bridge of the taller man’s nose with the crown of his head. Rhys disentangles himself with a pained yelp and falls back onto the floor, right on his ass. Jack could laugh at the sight, how the other man just sits there with a broken nose and teary eyes, but the damn collar decides to hit him in that exact moment.

When his screams finally die down, he opens his eyes to see Rhys being supported by that bandit friend of his (Faith? Philippa?). “Thanks, Fiona.” Rhys calls down to her in pain and Jack smiles to himself- that nose is definitely broken. The ex-CEO’s almost-grin freezes in its place when Rhys directs his cold gaze on him. “You’ll need to teach him better how to behave.” Fiona supplies airily, to which the taller man slowly nods.

“You’re lucky I got a visitor.” he tells Jack nasally, “Things’ll get much more interesting.”

Jack doesn’t like the look the duo give him right before they leave- the look that promises unpleasant things.

* * *

“I thought I was here to heal _him_ up whenever necessary.” Maya says, amused as she jerks a thumb in the general direction of where they keep Jack prisoner. Rhys looks up at the Siren from where he’s sitting and tries to glare at her as best he can with his swollen nose and puffy eyes; she simply laughs in return as she fixes him with ease.

“Violence is always present when you’re talking about Jack.” Athena shoots as she glares at Rhys’s now-perfect nose. He wonders which of the two women is the bigger ‘team mom’ as Axton put it; he smiles at them warmly before turning to Fiona, “Let’s not keep our guest waiting.”

* * *

Rhys’s eyes immediately fall upon the stranger sitting at a table with their back turned to him when he enters the giant room designed to greet newcomers. Under the crimson and silver colors of Atlas, the Hyperion architecture looks softer, calmer- Rhys is grateful for it, the last thing he needs is the environment damaging everyone’s already frayed nerves.

Vaughn looks up from where he’s seated across the hooded figure and waves at the cybernetic man, Gaige next to him seems to be sucked into an excited argument with the newcomer. Rhys gives the bearded man a strained smile, deeply wishing he could stall this meeting further. He really didn’t want to invite the ex-doppelänger in, but surprisingly enough, the Vault Hunters (especially Maya and Athena) were adamant about how he needed payback too, so eventually he simply settled on letting Vaughn give the double an ECHOcall (“You know him too, bro? What the hell…” “Well, actually… I even give him some missions from time to time.”).

“Why are you sad, Rhys?” a voice calls from around his kneecaps. His line of thought disperses at the feeling of a robotic hand tugging at his pant leg and he turns to smile down at Gortys who’s looking up at him with a **:(** on her faceplate. He kneels down in front of her, “Oh I’m not sad, honey! Why would you think that?”

“Your body language and vitals say you’re distressed, minion!” Claptrap next to her pipes up, unable to keep silent for more than five minutes. Rhys’s smile grows larger despite himself, “Meeting new people makes me nervous, I guess?” he settles on saying as he pets Gortys’s tiny hand.

“Oh?” Claptrap asks, ever the loud chatterbot, “You mean Tim?” he points a robotic hand towards the newcomer.

“Is that… his name?” Rhys trails off, it feels so weird for someone whose sole job is to be Jack to have a name like… **Tim**.

“Remember he’s a person underneath the appearance.” Athena lectures him as if she read his mind. “And I’ll kick you in the shins if you try to hurt him.”

“Because you can’t reach his face?” Gortys innocently asks as she looks between the petite gladiator and the lanky CEO.  Fiona snorts into Rhys’s shoulder for the sake of avoiding Athena’s pointed glare.

“He must be okay enough if you like him.” the CEO says with a small voice.

“What is that supposed to mean?” the blue-haired woman shoots back angrily as Fiona raises her head from where she buried it and grins at the shorter woman, “You rarely show any emotions, Athena.”

“Keep talking and I’ll show you some emotions to experience.” Claptrap’s readings tell him Athena actually enjoys the friendly banter with the younger Vault Hunter. Gortys tugs at Rhys’s pant leg again, “You’re not gonna upset Gentle Jim, right Rhys?”

Gentle Jim? Rhys looks at Athena as if hoping she’d grace him with an answer, but the yellow robot next to him is faster: “That’s Gortys’s nickname for Tim!” He slowly bounces on his wheel, “That makes sense, actually! He’s always been too nice to be Jack!”

“How long have you known him, really?” Rhys ends up asking the robot with a raised eyebrow.

“We saved the moon together, remember? So it must be close to five years!”

Rhys lets out a long sigh to calm himself down as he rubs his newly-fixed nose absentmindedly, “Okay, alright, I’ll take your word on it.” he tells Claptrap before rising on his feet. The larger robot looks absolutely thrilled to be trusted, so when he yells behind Rhys his robotic voice carries the tone of excitement, “His full name is Timothy Lawrence!”

* * *

“Mr Lawrence?”

The deep, soft voice has Timothy straighten up before he turns around in his chair to look at the tall man in tailor-cut pants and vest, his initial thought is how well the dark shade of crimson and black compliment the pale complexion of the fabled CEO of Atlas before he notices Athena standing next to the man. She gives him an encouraging smile and he returns it, albeit more nervously. The ex-doppelgänger slowly pushes his chair back and gets up, turning to Rhys, “Hi.”

Rhys’s initial thought is how differently this man carries himself; he stands tall and strong, but he in no way cocks his hips to the side or rolls his shoulders back like Jack does. Although it is clear he’s anxious, his gentle smile seems genuine enough. With the braided hair and the well-trimmed beard (both a dark shade of ginger, surprisingly) Timothy Lawrence manages to hide the sharp edges to his features well enough. And… freckles? Huh.

The two men end up standing face to face in the middle of the large room, staring at each other and at a loss for words; it seems everybody else but them are waiting for their initial reaction with baited breath. But then Gortys, bless her tiny robotic heart, chimes in, “Hi, Gentle Jim!”

A truly silly and happy smile graces Timothy’s face as he waves down at the robot, “Hey, Gortys! I see you two are getting along just fine.” He grins at Claptrap before focusing on the smaller robot again.

“Claptrap’s my BFF! I like him a lot!”

“Amazing.” The ex-doppelgänger sounds as if he’s having a hard time believing that. He turns back to Rhys, who extends his robotic hand for him to shake. “Rhys, right?” Timothy asks as their hands join, the CEO nods with a faint smile.

“That’s correct. Nice to meet you, Mr Lawrence, and I apologize for the delay, there was an… unexpected change of plans.”

Glad that things are going surprisingly calm and smooth, Timothy eyes the bloodied collar of Rhys’s dark shirt. “I reckon. That’s okay, and just Timothy is fine.”

Rhys nods, “Alright, Timothy, nice to meet you again.”

“You, too.” Timothy nods back before looking around, “I was told Lilith was going to be around as well?” Rhys thinks it’s interesting how this man who sounds exactly like Jack uses his inflection so differently before he replies, “She’s down at the lab in my stead… checking up… on… Jack.” The ex-doppelgänger’s mouth twists into a lopsided grin at that, “ _Oh boy_.”

“As long as she doesn’t blow up Jack or Serenity, we’ll be fine.” The small group shares a laugh before Timothy speaks up again, “I love what you did with the place, by the way, getting rid of the Hyperion influence and not the city itself is nice.”

“Thank you.” Rhys says, glaring pointedly at Fiona, “And some people still insult my city.”

“It’s dumb, like you!” comes the fresh Vault Hunter’s instant reply and the tense mood seems to ease into a more pleasant one slowly.

“So, uh…” Rhys turns back to Timothy, still wearing a pleased little grin at Fiona’s friendly bickering, “Would you like something to drink? Eat? We’ll have some time to kill before Lilith’s done with him.” He rubs his neck awkwardly, “Then we can talk and you can go down there if you like.”

“Sounds like a plan.” the ex-doppelgänger nods, “You wouldn’t have jasmine tea, would you?”

* * *

The silence of the glass prison is broken every so often by the man gurgling in the chair in a desperate attempt to breathe through his ripped trachea, Lilith backs away and sits on the bed wiping her bloodied hands on the already blood-speckled sheets to reach down and grab her ECHO.

Maya picks up after the first ring, “Already?” Lilith watches Jack slowly die in the opposite corner, “Too soon?” she asks with a vicious grin. Maya makes a noncommittal sound in her throat, “Eh. I’m not really surprised. Be there in a bit- oh! Do you want the boys to come join you, too?” Lilith continues to eye the man as blood spurts from his throat frantically, “Yeah, sure.”

* * *

When Jack comes to he’s greeted by the cool hands and the cooler eyes of Maya, he has a wild urge to straight up strangle her, or at least scream obscenities in her pretty face, but he’s too damn tired (and still tied up, as much as he doesn’t wanna admit that to himself), so he settles on glaring daggers at her. Her slender fingers grip his thin face and squeeze threateningly, “Still not over that bullet to the head, Jack?”

That does it for the man and with a wild, unintelligible scream he starts thrashing in his seat; the look the Sirens give him is an insult in itself, but then again Jack is long past the point logic to care.

He **does** notice the hiss of the glass door to his right, though.

“He’s doing it again?” Rhys’s soft voice calls out boredly.

“When is he _not_?” Lilith replies as Maya sits down on the bed. The red haired Siren’s eyes catch sight of someone behind Jack, “Oh, ‘sup.”

“How was the trip?” Maya waves at the unknown newcomer with an entertained smile.

“Pretty good, actually! Vaughn and I even stopped to pet a few stray skags.”

Jack stops squirming.

“Oh yeah, speaking of which… I hope you don’t mind us bringing some stray skags in, Rhys? They’re just pups and they need some intensive care.”

“Not at all! I’ll tell our vets to take care of them.”

“Awesome!” the voice gets closer and Jack’s too petrified to turn around and look. “Anyway…” A pair of large, heavy hands land on his shoulders none-too gently as his body double leans into his ear to growl, “How have you been, Jack?”

From this close, it’s fascinating to watch the two men who supposedly look the same, because it’s clear that they’re nothing alike. Lilith settles down next to Maya, who wraps her arms around the other as she watches the scene before them.

Feeling chained like a wild animal up for being watched and pecked at by a bunch of bandits, Jack slowly moves away from Timothy and takes a deep breath.

Then he spits on the ex-doppelgänger.

For a brief moment the looks of disgust on both men’s faces seem to match before Timothy pulls back, wiping his face with his sleeve. The Sirens are immediately up in an attempt to protect the former double from Jack (who has started thrashing like a maniac again) and Timothy is touched, really, but…

“Guys, it’s fine!” he says to the others, hands raised up in a placating manner, “I’d spit on a face like this if I were him, too.” There’s a brief moment of silence before Timothy bursts into laughter and Jack lets out a wild scream, it’s such a surreal scene that Rhys ends up joining the former double, which seems to egg both the ex-tyrant and Timothy on.

The ex-doppelgänger eventually calms down and approaches his former boss with an expression akin to what he saw on Rhys’s face earlier- cold, calculating and merciless. Timothy reaches out and grabs Jack’s face, much less gently than Maya did a moment ago, “You know, when Rhys and Lilith rang me to tell me they had you back and asked me if I wanted to join them, I was ready to let go because of all the ugly memories I had with you.” He slowly moves closer, his face a mere inch away from Jack’s, “But then I thought about it, and… _You_ need to be shown how much of a fuck up you are, Jack, and _we_ need payback.” He smiles down at the older man, the perfect mockery of the great Handsome Jack’s pearly white smirk, “You’ve got an awfully big ego for a useless piece of shit like you and I can’t honestly imagine why you would have such overconfidence.” His fingers tighten around Jack’s face, the tips going near-white and making the ex-CEO squirm in pain. “You made me run around and act like you while you sat behind your desk doing absolutely nothing; you made me pretend I was you, but in the end, you were pretending to be _me_.” Jack simply growls in response to Timothy’s words. “You’re not smart, you’re not strong, you’re not talented. You’re absolutely worthless and even this shithole of a planet won’t remember you as anything beyond a tyrant.”

“I’m the god damn her-“

Timothy slaps Jack hard, the sound ringing through the glass walls and making the other three wince, not out of sympathy for Jack but because of how emotionally loaded that simple strike was.

“You’re not a hero, Jack, you never were." Jack opens his mouth again to spew bullshit, so Timothy slaps him again. “Ask all the innocent people you murdered on Pandora… on Elpis- hell, even on Helios. Ask Lilith, or Rhys… Ask Angel.”

“You shut tHE HELL UP ABOUT MY DAUGHT-“

Timothy’s fist collides with Jack’s jaw and has his head flying back faster than a bullet. A broken jaw seems to have shut him up, although he still manages to whine in pain. Timothy cradles his fist to his chest as he steps back, “She never was your daughter.” he says, sounding too calm to be normal, “She was nothing more than a tool for you. _None of us_ were more than a tool for you.” Watching Timothy stand in the middle of the room, Rhys thinks how lonely he must have felt for so long; Lilith had her friends and so did Rhys, but Timothy was all alone, made to suffer by himself for the sins he didn’t commit.

“I don’t plan to go physical on you, you have two people to help you suffer here.” He gives Jack a pleased smile, “I’ll just drop by occasionally to remind you that it’s _all_ _your fault_.” Lilith lets out an amused snort and gets up, followed by Maya. Rhys puts a gentle hand on Timothy’s shoulder, “Up for some more tea, then?” Timothy nods, “I’d love that.”

On their way out Lilith reaches out to pat Jack’s reddened cheek in a mock-friendly fashion, “Don’t worry, handsome, we have all the time in the world and we’re not going anywhere. We’ll be back very soon.”

As the glass door hisses close behind the Vault Hunters and the CEO, all Jack can do is to gape at their retreating backs and scream in anguish.

**Author's Note:**

> My fic titles are always inspired by the songs I listen to while I write.
> 
> I also have a companion piece to go with this fic: http://doppeldonger.tumblr.com/post/163496160469/if-you-enjoyed-bitch-better-have-my-money-youll


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